California

The club originally commissioned little known Scotsman Willie Lock to design the course on the new site in the fashionable Bay Area, but an Irishman, Arthur Vernon Macan, replaced him before construction started. It’s unclear as to why Locke was replaced by Macan but we do know that Locke routed California, so he should receive posthumous credit. Alister MacKenzie was drafted in to address shortfalls in California’s bunkering in 1927 and since then the club’s reputation soared.

In 2005, after years of struggling with putting surfaces infested with roundworms, the club decided to rebuild the greens and Kyle Phillips was the chosen architect following a dramatic proposal. Not only did Phillips rebuild the greens, he also built five new holes so that the club could boast a stronger outward nine to complement the existing excellent homeward nine.